Environmental: June 2009 Archives

The 3M Co. pollution case in Washington County, MN, went to the jury Wednesday. Work on the case began five years ago when PFCs were discovered in drinking water.
TwinCities.com reports:

"This is a recurring environmental nightmare," said plaintiffs' lawyer David Byrne. He argued that the Maplewood-based company caused chemicals to seep into groundwater, damaging property values of his clients: Gary and Karen Paulson, Brad Krank and Bill Henry.  Plaintiff's environmental experts suggested the damage might be 15 percent to 25 percent of property value. .

Not so, said 3M attorney Cooper Ashley. The tiny traces of chemicals already have been removed from the drinking water of the plaintiffs, he said, so there was no harm to the property values of their homes.  

The Community Association for the Restoration of the Environment in Granger, WA, has withdraw its lawsuit against the DeRuyter Brothers Dairy over air emissions.  Environmentalists have been largely unsuccessful in bringing the federal Clean Air Act to bear on the emissions of gases, such as ammonia, from large animal-feeding operations. UC Davis environmental air quality expert Frank Mitloehner says it is very difficult to do since emissions vary depending on the time of day, the temperature and humidity as well as where the measurement is taken and whether the urine and feces that breed the pollutants are fresh or old.  YakimaHerald.com reports:

With at least 74,000 cows on 72 farms, the Lower Yakima Valley is dense with dairies. Complaints about odor are routinely collected by the Yakima Regional Clean Air Agency, according to officials at the agency. That odor isn't caused by a single substance but rather a number of compounds.